How Five Became Six
by SkyGem
Summary: For Ryoma, having four lovers isn't always easy and more often than not, he feels left out. When it escalates to the point where he can't stand it anymore, he turns to his best friend Seiichi for comfort. Eventual OT6 with an emphasis on Sensual.


Summary: For Ryoma, having four lovers isn't always easy and more often than not, he feels left out. When it escalates to the point where he can't stand it anymore, he turns to his best friend Seiichi for comfort. Eventual OT6 with an emphasis on Sensual.

SkyGem: Well, here's my first attempt at OT6. I hope I didn't do too badly. Please r&r, ne?

Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis.

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><p><strong><span>Ryoma<span>**

It was pouring rain and by the time my mother opened the door, I was soaking wet.

As soon as she saw me she ushered me in, saying, "Really, Ryoma, what on Earth possessed you to come here in the pouring rain without a jacket?"

I didn't reply, instead grabbing the towel she had handed me.

After drying myself off, I looked at her and asked, "Can I stay here for a little while?"

Sensing how upset I was, my mother hugged me tightly, saying, "Of course you can, sweetheart. You're always welcome here. Go upstairs and get changed before you catch a cold. I'll make something hot for you to eat. Then we can talk about what's gotten you so upset, hm?"

I couldn't help but smile slightly, my mother was so good at seeing my emotions.

When I came downstairs about five minutes later, my mother had already made me a cup of freshly brewed green tea and had a bowl of steaming oatmeal on the table. When she saw that I didn't particularly appreciate it, my mother laughed and said, "Eat it. Oatmeal is good for people with a cold, which you have probably caught by now. Anyways, it's good to eat something healthy once in a while, no doubt there's nothing but junk food at Atobe's mansion."

I attempted a laugh. "You're right about that, but the other three never let me eat any of that stuff, they only let me eat healthy food…" I trailed off as a sob escaped my mouth.

Coming over to me, my mother wrapped her arms around my shoulders, saying, "What's wrong, sweetheart? Did they do anything to you? Are you guys arguing?"

As my tears escaped, I shook my head, saying, "I wish they were paying enough attention to me to argue, but lately, it's like I'm not even there. The four of them, they're always paired up and doing something together. Lately, when they go on dates, they don't even bother to invite me. I'm sick of it!"

"Oh, Ryoma honey, I'm sure they don't mean to make you feel left out! Give them a chance, hm? They're probably looking for you right now!"

I shook my head. "Gen-chan and Kunimitsu are out of town for some convention or other and Syuu-chan and Keigo, who wer supposed to stay with me, got tickets to a concert for a band they've been obsessing over."

When my mother didn't say anything, I pulled away and headed for the stairs, saying, "I'm going to sleep now. If anyone calls, tell them I'm not here."

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><p><strong><span>Syuusuke<span>**

When Keigo and I got home around midnight, the light in Ryoma's room was off, so we assumed he was sleeping and didn't want to bother him.

Instead, we both went to Keigo's room for some 'sleep.'

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><p>The next morning (or noon more like it), I was awoken by a frantic Keigo shaking me by the shoulders and yelling, "The brat's missing!"<p>

"Huh?" I asked him, still half asleep and not quite understanding what he was saying.

"The **brat** is **missing**!" he repeated, stressing the words brat and missing.

I was immediately alert. "A-are you sure he's missing?" I asked. "Did you check the pool? The tennis courts? The library?"

Keigo shook his head. "I've looked everywhere! He's nowhere to be found!"

Even though I was beginning to get worried, I said, "Calm down. He might have just gone out. Did you check if he left a note?"

Keigo nodded. "And I called his parents, and anyone else he might have gone to! No one's seen him!"

Now I was really beginning to panic. Where had he gone?

"What about his cell phone?" I asked.

Keigo shook his head. "He won't pick up."

Jumping out of bed, I quickly pulled on the first thing I got my hands on and dashed out of the mansion, followed by Keigo.

On our way out, though, we ran into Kunimitsu and Genichiro, who had apparently just returned.

"Syuusuke?" asked Kunimitsu when I didn't greet them both as enthusiastically as I usually did.

"What happened?" said Genichiro, taking in my worried face and messy hair.

"Ryo-chan is missing!" I shouted.

After going through the previous conversation I had had with Keigo all over again, we all decided to split up and look for him.

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><p><strong><span>Seiichi<span>**

When I got a call from my gloomy best friend who was apparently having relationship troubles, I immediately rushed over, worried.

When I got there, Ryoma was in his bed, almost drowning in blankets.

When he saw me, his face lit up and he said, "Seii-chan!"

Smiling softly, I went over to him, saying, "Hey Ryoma. You sick?"

He nodded slightly and I put a hand to his forehead. He was burning up.

"Really, Ryoma. If you're this sick, you should be sleeping," I chided him and he giggled. Ryoma actually **giggled**! Warily, I asked, "Are you delirious?"

He shook his head and, as I drew my hand back, he caught a hold of it, pulling me towards him and kissing my cheek.

I blushed fiercely and pulled away.

"P-please don't leave, Seii-chan," he said, whimpering. "I-I feel so lonely! Please…" and as he trailed off, his eyes closed, and his breathing gradually evened. He was most definitely asleep.

I sighed and shook my head. There was no way I could leave now, not after that look he had given me, such a heartbroken look.

Getting up, I picked up a book that was lying on Ryoma's bedside table, and sat back down. Opening up the book, I made myself comfortable, and began reading.

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><p><strong><span>Ryoma<span>**

When I next woke up, though my head felt a bit fuzzy, I felt a lot better and my fever had gone down a lot.

Then, I remembered what I had done to Seiichi, and a bright blush lit my face. What had I been thinking?

"Oh, you're finally awake, Ryo-kun," a mellow voice said and I looked down to see Seiichi sitting by the edge of my bed, holding a book.

"Seii-chan!" I said in surprise.

He smiled. "It looks like you're a lot better now."

I shyly shook my head then said, "W-why is Seii-chan here?"

He just shrugged and said, "Because you told me not to leave."

"W-what?" I said, trying to get out of bed. I didn't know how tangled up I was in the blankets and ended up tripping and landing on top of Seiichi.

I immediately made to get up, but he just wrapped his arms around me, and sat up.

"You're still upset, aren't you?" he said quietly. "Well, you can have my shoulder to cry on, that's why you called me, right?"

His words brought to mind what had happened the previous day and I buried my head in his chest, letting out all the pent-up frustration that had been building up these past weeks.

He just sat there with his arms around my much smaller frame, rocking us gently back and forth.

When I finally stopped crying, about half an hour later, he smiled gently, kissed my forehead, and said, "Better now?"

I nodded slightly, my head still buried in his chest. "T-thank you, Seii-chan."

He hummed to show he had heard.

Then, after a long pause, he said, "I'll always be here for Ryo-chan because I love him."

Hearing this, I froze.

He just kept rocking back and forth, not seeming to have noticed my reaction.

For a long time, I couldn't find my voice. Then, finally, I said, "W-what?"

He looked down at me and smiled gently. "Is it really so hard to believe? Or is it that you don't feel the same way about me?"

I couldn't reply to that. It was true that whenever I was with him, my heart raced just a little faster and the others and I had sometimes discussed asking him to join us, but had always rejected the idea, thinking it would just trouble him.

When I didn't reply, he leaned down and kissed me and I found I couldn't pull away.

It wasn't that he was forcing me or anything, but I didn't **want **to pull away.

After a moment of hesitation, I kissed him back and I could sense his joy.

When we finally pulled away, he smiled gently at me then hugged me tightly.

Suddenly, we were interrupted by my door being thrown open and we both looked to see who it was.

It was Genichiro and the others.

When they saw Seiichi holding me, Keigo shouted, "Let go of our Ryo-chan!"

"Oh, but what if Ryoma-kun doesn't want me to let go?"

Suddenly, all eyes turned to me and I could see that Syuusuke was on the verge of tears.

"R-Ryo-chan?" he whimpered. "W-why did you leave?"

Suddenly, I blew up. "Because I'm sick and tired of you guys leaving me out all the time!"

They all looked taken aback and I continued my rant.

"In everything, you guys pair up with each other and always leave me out. You never invite me on dates and whenever I ask you guys to do something with me, you're always busy! I'm lonely! And Seii-chan is the only one who actually notices my presence!"

This time, Syuusuke really did begin crying. "W-we're sorry, Ryo-chan! W-we didn't know that's how you felt! P-please, forgive us!"

I turned away, not accepting his apology.

This time, Keigo spoke, his voice soft. "Ryoma, we really didn't know you felt that way, but please, believe us when we say we're sorry, more sorry than you could imagine. We couldn't bear to lose you. You're the whole world to us. Won't you come back?"

By the end of this, I had tears in my eyes. I wanted so badly to believe him, but I didn't know what to do.

Suddenly, Seiichi removed his arms from around me and I looked up to see a pained expression on his face. "Go," he said quietly and, after a slight hesitation, I went to join my lovers.

Immediately, Keigo and Syuusuke latched onto me, smothering me with kisses. And even Genichiro, who rarely showed any emotion, was smiling softly. Both he and Kunimitsu gave me soft kisses on the forehead while staying out of the other two's ways.

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><p><strong><span>Seiichi<span>**

I looked on as Ryoma's boyfriends welcomed him back affectionately and I could barely hold the tears back. I knew he belonged with them, but it hurt to let him go.

Then, Tezuka turned to me and I saw an expression of understanding on his face.

Then, he smiled slightly and said to me, "Would you like to go out with us?"

I could hardly believe what I was hearing.

By now, the other four were looking on. Ryoma and Genichiro were smiling, as if encouraging me to say yes and the other two looked excited, as if they were ready to jump on me the moment I said yes which they did a moment later when I nodded my head yes.

I laughed breathlessly as I was tackled to the ground by three of my new lovers.

"Welcome, Seiichi!" they said in unison and I felt like the happiest person on Earth.

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><p>SkyGem: So, what did you all think? Please do review and let me know whether I completely failed or not.<p> 


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